Lovely simple monogrammed business cards for Interior designer Ellie Leigh Williams. With copper foil one side of a Colorplan Real Grey and a black letterpress print the other side. Wisely, Ellie’s card is designed as such that the debossing from either side do not overlap front to back. This way she can achieve maximum deboss on both sides without compromising the appearance on the other. Great stuff!

These business cards for Siberian Husky breeders SYBASPRINTER use a stunning 540gsm colorplan duplex combo of Pristine White and Turquoise. Finished nicely one side with a blind debossing and a grey print. Simple, eye-catching and effective.

We love a deboss and adding a subtle tint can really enhance it. Here’s a great example of a tinted deboss on Colorplan for architects Tigg + Coll. The yellow ink was hand mixed to match the yellow side of the Duplex.

A striking business card from our archives for Gareth Coxon at Dot Design. Printed 2 colours both sides on our Heidelberg platens and die cut to shape. Gareth carefully placed the design elements on each side to avoid any overlapping. The cards are printed on 425gsm cotton.

Debbie is passionate about paper, really passionate. With her background in the paper industry she knows a thing or two about paper. We got a call from Debbie while she was over in New York for the Stationery Show, “Can you print my business cards for when I return in a couple of days for PG Live in London?” How could we resist! The paper was chosen, the type set and colours picked in no time and the next day it was on the press.

The cards are printed with coral ink and finished off with matching edge colour. There was only one paper choice for a paper passionist – the awesome 600gsm Cranes Lettra Flourescent White.

Printing a large flat area of ink on uncoated stock can be tricky, but with careful setup on the press it can be done. We achieved a good solid black on these business cards for Neil McLean of Ayelike. Printing a solid black with a reversed out white logo was an alternative to a white hot foil.

We were thrilled when Candykiller aka Brian Taylor called on Blush to produce his latest ‘Beast’ print. We have worked with Candykiller before, printing the 5th Anniversary limited edition prints. Candykiller’s illustrations print beautifully on the press and Brian’s attention to detail and technical ability when it comes to artwork is first class.

We printed the Beast on 300gsm cotton paper on a Heidelberg platen press, tweeting live at each stage of the production, from platemaking to trimming. The first stage of the job was to prepare Brian’s artwork for print. The artwork was supplied digitally and we check the file before creating the separations. Each colour is a separate pass through the press, so once through for the red and through again for the black. This means we would need two plates.

We mix the ink to a Pantone ref supplied by the artist and ink up the press. We decided to add the rider roller to give an even and consistent spread of ink across the image and to prevent ‘ghosting’.

The plate is attached to a base to bring it up to type height (.918″) and locked up in the chase then locked into the press.

We ink up the press and pull some initial prints to check for registration, ink coverage and impression. We also check the print for any defects in the plate.

Once we are happy with we run the sheets through the press.

After the first colour run we wash-up the press and prepare for the second colour. Change plates, ink up for black pass and reload the paper on the press.

We pull some prints and check once again for impression, ink coverage and registration.

Then run the sheets through and print the black plate.

The final prints are checked and trimmed on the guillotine before packing.

You can see more production shots on our Flickr pages and follow us on Twitter for news and updates on future live letterpress tweets.

Red and white duplex is a striking combination as seen here in these business cards we printed for James Sheriff at Genius Division. Printing red ink to complement the red paper and then printing red ink over the red side rather than a blind deboss really help lift the pattern.

These business cards for new company The First 65 have qualities people crave with letterpress. Good design, quality board, deep impression with and without ink and an extra special finish. The ink was hand mixed to match the green paper and the logo was blind debossed on the reverse. As an extra special finish they were edge painted in a vibrant bright orange. The cards were printed on a Heidelberg platen onto 540gsm Duplex White over Green.

We recently worked with design outfit The Ubiquitous Manufacturing Company to print their business cards. The brief called for super thick board with edge painting and we talked at length about the effect they hoped to achieve. We sourced this 1000mic 100% recycled dark grey board – perfect!

The cards were printed on our Heidleberg platen presses in silver ink, 2 sides. The ‘Crown’ logo on the front was due to be a deboss but we printed a transparent white to help lift it.

Letterpress printing creates a debossed impression into the paper. The inked plate is pressed into the paper leaving the design or type recessed. We can also print without any ink, a blind deboss. A simply and very effective technique.

The example above shows a blind emboss on 300gsm cotton paper. The image is raised, pushed from back to front. To do this correctly we use a male and female die to create an image that is sharp and crisp.